A mother-daughter decorating duo share their strategies for making any home look like a million bucks.

Truly Valuable Design Advice

Truly Valuable Design Advice

Lauren McGrath and her mother, Suzanne, an interior designer in Rye, New York, work together on their blog, goodbonesgreatpieces.com and co-authored Good Bones, Great Pieces($29.95; Stewart, Tabori & Chang), a decorating book chock-full of sound wisdom regarding how to get your money's worth. Here, they share 13 ways to decorate with a high-low mix of keep-forever antiques and flea-market buys.

1. The best things often come in small packages. Less expensive than full-size sofas, settees also function outside the living room — bringing comfort to a foyer, providing seating at the foot of a bed, cozying up to a dining table. So you're likely to love a love seat long after you've kicked a hulking couch to the curb.

2. Give an outdated lamp a top-down makeover. A modest white drum shade can modernize the fussiest old fixture. And no need to splurge on silk — paper delivers a crisper, more contemporary look.

3. The $2 secret to beautifully stocked bookshelves: Scour thrift stores for hardbacks, typically a couple of bucks each, then arrange them by color for extra pizzazz.